Babies Are Like Glue
by superpsychtime
Summary: In which teenage Dean goes through the struggle that is life, only to make a friend that gives him new meaning. It's kind of like an angel waltzed into his life or something.
1. Wet Wipes

**Author's Note: **This is part 1 of a hopefully long story.

* * *

A person can only change so many diapers in one day before he snaps.

Dean Winchester reluctantly puts the repulsive smelling diaper into a plastic bag and starts to tie it up, all the while under the alert eyes of the guilty source of the abomination. It has to be the fifth time he's dealt with one of Sammy's "special presents" today and it isn't even noon.

_I swear the little runt does this on purpose _thinks Dean, looking up to see Sammy's eyes directly on him with a smug smile plastered on his face, only confirming Dean's suspicion. Dean meets his stare with a glower, but he can't stay mad at him. Besides, it's not like it's his fault he isn't potty trained. According to their dad, it's Dean's fault. Just like how their mother's untimely death was his fault, the repossession of their 67' Chevy Impala was also his fault, his dad's habit of guzzling a six-pack or two every night is again, his fault, or how every crappy thing to ever happen in his family's life is automatically his fault.

And why shouldn't it be?

Dean is nothing more than a worthless freeloader who will never amount to much. Or at least, that's what his dad tells him when his drinking gets him particularly wasted, and it's what Dean is starting to believe. Dropping out of high school to take care of Sammy full time when their dad started to neglect his responsibility was the best and worst decision. It was the right thing to do because now Sam actually has a fighting chance at growing up as a mentally stable, well rounded person.

On the other hand, it's never a good idea to drop out of your junior year of high school when you have plans on going to college.

But since Sammy is safe and well, this is the right choice. Sammy comes first, always has, always will. College probably wouldn't have been filled with the smokin' hot chicks and wild parties he's seen from movies anyway, so he's not missing much.

Dean shakes his scrambled thoughts out of his head. Deciding that the diaper fumes are starting to get to him and he needs some fresh air, he scoops up Sam, his diaper bag, his phone and house keys and heads out the door without telling his dad where they're going. It's not like he ever cares anyway.

"Park!" squeals an elated Sam when he realizes they're going for a walk. He definitely wants to spend these all too precious minutes away from their alcohol stained house at his favorite place in the world. Dean grins at him in agreement. Park it is.

Dean rests Sam upon his shoulders and starts walking towards the park. It's literally only a 2 minute walk, but with Sam's curious eyes and his pleads for Dean to stop and grab everything interesting he sees, need it be a butterfly or a pine cone, the trip easily takes them a good 10 minutes.

They make it to the park with a diaper bag full of so called souvenirs and one very smelly toddler.

"For cryin' out loud!" Dean says through gritted teeth as he lays down a very innocent looking Sam on his back on a nearby park bench. He ruffles through the bag for several seconds, pushing aside 14 pine cones, 20 flowers of various colors, 10 leaves, 3 small sticks and a handful of grass to triumphantly pull out a diaper and some wet wipes. At least it's only a Number 1 this time. Dean then proceeds in the abstract art that is diaper changing, only to pause when he sees a stranger approaching him from the corner of his eye.

He looks up to see if the guy looks like a serial killer or not so that he can accurately decide whether or not he needs to protect Sammy. He never can be too careful. However, instead of the fiendish maniac with a hidden weapon he was expecting, he sees a guy about his age holding a baby walking towards them. Dean continues to change Sam's diaper, but keeps his eyes fixed on the stranger. He does this because A) He still doesn't trust that this guy is all sunshine and lollipops if he has the nerve to approach them, no matter if he is carrying a kid (whom he probably stole) and B) the dude is nothing if not mesmerizing.

The first thing Dean notices is his eyes. Now he's heard about getting lost in someone's eyes but this is freakin' ridiculous. Even from a distance he can tell that those eyes are a vivid blue. So blue he can't even begin to comprehend how they make the clear blue sky seem like a dull grey color in comparison. Directly above those too blue eyes lies a messy mop a dark brown hair. As the guy gets closer Dean notices that the guy is wearing a trenchcoat in the middle of June and it sends his creeper radar through the roof, but when he looks into those fluorescent eyes again, he comes to the conclusion that nobody would be able to posses such angelic eyes if they were up to no good.

The stranger gets closer still until he's a few feet from Dean. This is when Dean notices the stubble surrounding his plush, pink lips. Dean suddenly realizes that he has indeed been staring at the guy for some time and quickly focuses his eyes back on a fully changed Sammy, his cheeks burning a bright crimson. Dean pretends to be getting something out of Sam's hair as his blush dies down.

"Um, pardon me."

Startled by the deepness of the voice, Dean whips his head around to look at the stranger. Before Dean can say anything however, the guy continues.

"Sorry to disturb you," he says (which makes Dean thinks this is being set up, no one can be that polite), "but I noticed that you have some wet wipes."

Dean simply stares without realizing it, trying to place a proper color to match his eyes. What kind of other worldly blue is that? Cerulean? Sapphire perhaps?

"My baby brother Gabriel seems to have wet himself," he continues, not noticing Dean's staring, "and I was hoping you could be so kind as to lend me a few of those wet wipes so he doesn't develop a diaper rash."

Dean is still staring and the mystery guy is simply staring back, as if that is the natural response. Several seconds pass before Dean snaps out of his trance suddenly and turns to look at the wet wipes on the bench, his cheeks burning a bright scarlet.

"Oh um, y-yeah," he stutters, causing his blush to become brighter and more evident. "Sure you can have some." He scolds himself mentally for sounding as nervous as a middle school girl.

Clumsily, he pulls out three or four wet wipes and hands them to the guy, trying his best to avoid eye contact. Dean dares to glance up and he sees the guy's head tilted slightly to one side, expression perplexed and brow furrowed. His breath catches when he realizes those big blues are locked on him again. He feels as though the awkwardness in the air is so thick by this point it can be cut with a knife. Luckily, Gabriel's piercing screech fills the air and forces the stranger to break eye contact. For this Dean is relieved, but also strangely disappointed for reasons he can not place at the moment.

"Oh hush," the guy says, concern for his brother present in his face. Looking at Dean he says, "Do you mind if we sit next to you for a bit?"

Not wanting to sound like a girl talking to her crush again, Dean doesn't say anything but he simply puts Sammy on his lap and scoots over to make room.

"Thanks," mumbles the stranger as he situates himself and his brother on the bench, "Come here often?"

Dean is momentarily thrown off by the way the guy's choice of conversation starter is a pick up line, but then he responds, "To the park? Yeah, a few times a week. Haven't seen you around though." He looks away and back into Sammy's long, brown locks, to avoid staring into the stranger's eyes again. He might not be completely up-to-date on social graces, but he is sure getting lost in a stranger's eyes more than once is just not acceptable.

"Yeah," the guy says as he changes Gabriel's concoction, "My family and I just moved in." He looks at Dean to find him staring into his brother's hair, then he goes back to changing the diaper. As soon as he looks away, Dean looks up to see, to his disappointment, the guy is still looking down.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" he says as he fishes out a diaper from his backpack, "Here I am telling my life story and we haven't even been properly introduced yet. My name is Castiel Novak, by the way. What's yours?"

A grin tugs on Dean's lips as he hears the guy's name, and he can't help the question he blurts out. "What kind of name is Castiel?" He meant for his tone to be light and joking, but somehow it came out sounding mocking. Dean quickly turns his head away to look at an elderly woman walking several different breeds of poodles as he feels his face redden. Today is just not his day.

Castiel doesn't seem to take the question as an insult. Instead, he smiles and looks up at the same old lady. "My parents are very religious," he explains, "All of their children are named after angels." Dean turns to look at a still smiling Castiel and Castiel meets his gaze. Dean reasons that the social graces rule doesn't apply if the other person starts the staring, so he doesn't look away.

Their "moment" is interrupted by another deafening screech from Gabriel and Dean thanks the high heavens that Sam isn't nearly as whiny, even though they look about the same age.

"What's wrong now?" Castiel says as he turns a freshly changed Gabriel to face him, face scrunched in confusion. "Are you hungry?"

Gabriel slowly nods his head while wearing a full blown pout that nearly breaks Dean's heart. An idea pops into his head and before he can fully think it over, he's already saying it.

"So, um, Cas?" Castiel's eyebrows raise at the nickname as he looks away from his brother to look at Dean. He notices that Dean's cheeks are still bright red and Cas is starting to think that maybe that's his natural skin color, or possibly an allergic reaction to something. He wants to question Dean about it to ease his concern, but Dean is already continuing. "Sammy here and I were thinking about going to that new diner across the street from here after our little adventure to the park. Do you think, maybe, you and Gabe would, um, like to-"

"Accompany you?" Cas interrupts, much to Dean's relief. If he couldn't understand why simply _talking _to the guy was so stressful, why did it seem like a good idea to invite him to lunch? He nodded quickly and directed his attention towards a falling leaf by Castiel's ear. "I'd, I mean, we'd love to." Cas flashes him another one of those genuine smiles and jeez, this guy smiled a lot. Dean wasn't quite sure if he could get use to the somersaults his stomach did every time he witnessed one of those smiles.


	2. Crayons

Of all the places he thought he would bring Sammy after the park, bringing him on a _date _hadn't crossed his mind. Well, it isn't exactly a date. It's more of a friendly outing at a restaurant with a complete stranger.

Crap.

The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes it's more of a _blind _date.

As Dean sits beside Sammy in their booth, his palms start to sweat as he skims the menu. Everything on the menu seems to remind him of Cas, which makes absolutely no sense. He notices the chicken alfredo and thinks _I wonder if Cas likes chicken alfredo. _He sees that the chef recommends the shrimp and instantly thinks_ but what if he's allergic to shrimp? _Heck, he even sees apple pie, his favorite food in the world and the first thought to grace his mind is _I should ask Cas what his favorite kind of pie is. _

It's starting to get ridiculous. Feeling defeated, he reaches for the kiddie menu to order for Sammy.

"So Sammy," Dean says, trying to sound casual and as if he's not freaking out, "Want some chicken fingers?"

Sam glares at Dean, actually _glares _and there's no way Dean can take him seriously. Stern faces on two-year-old bodies are just so freakin' cute that a laugh escapes Dean. The laugh, Cas notices, is so pure that it's like music to his ears. He makes note to do more things in the future to hear that laugh again.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh nothin'. Just Sammy being the little snob he is. What kind of normal toddler hates chicken fingers? I swear all this kid will eat is mac and cheese or a salad." At the mention of his favorite foods, Sammy's face lights up and he starts bouncing up and down in his seat, forcing another laugh out of Dean. A smile of adoration crosses Cas' face as he watches the two brothers interact. Dean looks at him and returns the smile, thus, enacting another one of their staring contests.

"So," Dean says, breaking the silence, "What are you gonna get for Gabe?" At the mention of his name, Gabe looks up from the picture he was dutifully coloring in and looks at Cas, as if awaiting some sort of treat.

"He'll probably just have the chicken fingers," Cas says while he looks down at his brother and ruffles his silky, light brown hair, "And I think I'll go with a bacon cheeseburger. What about you?"

Dean, who realizes that he has been watching Castiel for an unnecessary amount of time, looks away from him and back to his menu.

"A bacon cheeseburger sounds good. I think I'll go with that." Dean says, still scrolling his eyes up and down the menu. "I also think I'll get a slice of their apple pie for... scientific reasons."

This catches Castiel's attention and he looks at Dean. "Scientific reasons?" Cas says between chuckles, "I didn't know you were a "scientist"."

Dean's face becomes a light shade of pink as he says "By that I mean I want to compare and contrast this piece of pie with pies from other restaurants. It's like an experiment, in a way." By now Castiel's small chuckles have evolved into full blown laughter and Dean finds it incredibly contagious. He can't help but laugh along. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees people staring at them as if they're crazy, but neither of them care in the slightest. Dean swears that Castiel's rich laughter is nothing short of angelic music and looks forward to hearing it more.

Their laughter is interrupted when their waitress comes over to their table, pen and notepad in hand. Her long, sandy blonde hair runs past her shoulders and spills over her pristine, pure white blouse. "Hi," she says in a slight southern accent, "My name is Jo and I will be your server for this evening. What may I get you boys?" Dean lets Cas say his and Gabe's orders first, and then he says his and Sam's order. "Nice choice with the apple pie," she says to Dean, "It's absolutely delicious and extremely popular this week."

"I sure hope so," Dean says, then looks towards Cas who, of course, meets his gaze. "For science." His lame reference to his even lamer joke from earlier earns him a quizzical look from Jo and another one of those genuine smiles from Cas. As Jo disappears to go fulfill their order, the two of them continue to stare. Any onlooker would think that they are either communicating with each other telepathically, or hopelessly in love and constantly lost in each other's eyes. Hey, maybe even both.

Dean is forced to advert his gaze when he feels his leg vibrate. He reaches into his pocket to see who's calling and frowns when he realizes who it is.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothin'. Just my dad calling," Dean says as he flips open his phone. "Yeah dad?" Cas tries to not pay attention to his friend's phone call for privacy reasons, but he can't help but notice the series of different emotions that flash across Dean's face as his dad talks. He watches his expression go from smiling to confused to borderline panic and he can't help but feel helpless and concerned. Dean is not saying anything during the conversation, so he can only guess what it's about.

"Dad no! Please... stop I'll do anything! Please I'm sorry..." Cas can't be sure, but he swears he can see tears forming in Dean's eyes before he tries to hide his face. By now Sam is even showing some sympathy as he watches his brother, however, Gabriel remains undeterred.

"Fine! We're on our way," Dean says before he hangs up. He does a quick sniffle and shoves his phone into his pocket, but the water works Cas was sure he saw are no where to be found.

Before either of them can say anything, Jo comes back with a tray full of their food and starts to pass the plates out to their designated consumer. "Do you think we can get the doggy bags and check please as soon as possible? Thanks hon."

Cas tilts his head and gives Dean that perplexed look again and it physically pains his chest to see him look so hurt. His crappy day has definitely made a turn for the worst. "I'm sorry man," Dean starts, and then has to look out the window to avoid Cas' too blue eyes, "But that was my dad on the phone and he' freakin' ticked that I didn't tell him me and Sammy were leaving, and that we took the keys and now he's threatening to smash the windows on my baby if I don't get back immediately and-"

"Dean," Cas interrupts, "It's ok."

Dean takes the moment to wipe the tears that have started flowing freely off of his cheeks. He curses himself for crying in front of this dude he's just met, and after all the trouble he's went through to try to make a good first impression the guy probably thinks he's a big, blubbering baby and-

"Do you want to talk about it?" says Cas, successfully dragging Dean out of his over-thinking.

Dean tries to regulate his breathing for a few seconds, and then he proceeds to try and tell Cas his story. He tells Cas about how alcoholic his dad is and how excited he was at first when his dad told him that he was active today. Then he told him about how his dad wanted to get the keys so that he could try driving sober for once and how he was enraged to find that the keys were gone but it's not like it's Dean's fault that they needed the keys to get back into the house and their stupid household only has one set of keys!

Never in his life had Dean been so open to someone, let alone someone he just friggin' met. The words poured out of him, gaining looks of intrigument, sympathy, and, possibly protectiveness out of Cas. He felt as though the more he let Cas know about himself, the better he felt.

By the time he finished talking, most of their food was gone and the bill was paid, and that's when Dean remembered how he needed to be at his house like _now. _

"Crap!" he cries as he checks the time and jumps out of his seat, earning him a few 'what the heck' looks from other customers. Honestly, at this point he finds it astonishing that they aren't banned for life from all the public disturbances and Sam and Gabe's mini food fight. Quickly, he pours his and Sam's food into a doggy bag and picks up Sam. Cas simultaneously does the same thing, but with Gabe. They are both up and ready to go, but neither one of them has the slightest idea of how they should part ways.

Dean knows two things for sure at this point. The first being that he absolutely wants to meet up with Cas again, but asking for his number seems too awkward and girly for his taste. Second, he needs to get home freakin' _now. _

Without interrupting their staring contest, Dean says, very casually I might add, "So... wanna see my crib?"

The last time he checked, being invited to someone's house generally meant that you were friends with that person. This is the first person Cas has made friends with since he moved into the neighborhood and he has to do everything in his will power to not jump for joy. So instead, he let's a simple smile and head nod do the trick.


End file.
